Pedro Xavier: A New Generation Emerges. On the death of his father in May 1909, six months before his twenty-third birthday, Pedro Xavier became president of the Hongkong Printing Press. In the year that followed, while settling the business affairs of the firm, which employed family members and local Chinese, as well as Lisbello Xavier’s estate, Pedro devised a strategy that would lead in a new direction. Not every move met with success. However, important adjustments to the Press’

A Solution for Exchanges with Macau. One of the realities of the global economy often overlooked by Macanese associations is the relationship between information and business.[1] Knowledge about business often comes in the form of information about local and international markets, individual sectors within those markets, data on commercial trends, news about technology, profiles of individual companies, and even contact information for potential partners. The fact that Macau’s history can be considered an economic asset because of its unique

Note: Four years ago, in the early stages of my research, I wrote back to Jim Silva, an old family friend, who raised questions about my “broad definition” of the Macanese that I use on my website. I recently re-read the letter and thought it might be illuminating to others in order to understand my early rationale. For those who are unfamiliar with him: Frederic “Jim” Silva is a well-known writer within the community, and a frequent contributor on Macanese

The Hong Kong Museum of History, under the government’s Leisure and Cultural Services Department, has invited Dr. Roy Eric Xavier (BIO) to join a team of scholars to create a “Portuguese Gallery” as part of “The Hong Kong Story”, the Museum’s permanent exhibition. As stated in a letter written by Mr. Osmond Chan, the Museum’s Curator: “In order to bring about a new museum experience to the Hong Kong public and overseas visitors, our museum is now going to renovate

The migration of 19th century Luso-Asians from Macau to Hong Kong, and the success of some who started new businesses, is an example of their continued resilience over the centuries. To do so, they placed their hopes on an uncertain future, and often disregarded a long-held aversion to commerce and manual labor that paralyzed Macau’s recovery as a trading port. [1] To understand how this trend began, we should first consider the social condition of Luso-Asians since the colonial period,

(Note: Information for this article was drawn from a longer study that will be published in the future.) My research often uncovers accounts of 19th century Macanese families that made the transition from Macau to Hong Kong, and a few that had success starting new businesses in the British colony. To do so, they often disregarded a cultural aversion to commerce in Macau.[1] Like old Macau, the same avoidance of business seems to be afflicting leading Macanese

My apologies for not posting sooner. It has been a hectic few months since I returned from two trips to China in November 2016 and March 2017. As a result, my research and other activities have expanded into different areas, so it’s been difficult keeping up with my writing schedule. Now that things have settled down, I thought it would be a good idea to provide a short review of what I’ve been doing lately. These observations may be as

In late 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping introduced a new foreign relations strategy called “One Belt One Road”. For China and other countries involved, the initiative is designed to create “people-to-people” bonds based on historical connections and cross-cultural communications, which are projected to play a significant role in shaping trade, infrastructure projects, and international security in the future. The former Deputy Director of China’s Insurance Regulatory Commission Zhou Yanli highlighted the importance of cultural factors by suggesting that a fundamental

Here’s an article that provides another perspective on culture and economic development, similar to China’s current strategy called: “One Belt One Road”, which uses cultural relations to extend economic development. Macau’s Culture as an Economic Asset Roy Eric Xavier, Ph.D. (Originally posted on Academia.edu in November 2015) Culture and economic development in China are not mutually exclusive. In Macau’s case, both can involve tourism, entertainment, media, education, and international business. My own research has shown that the attraction may also

(Note: The Portuguese translation of this article in the Jornal Tribuna de Macau can be found HERE) There is a growing perception in the U.S. and around the world, fed by American media, that we are witnessing institutional chaos during Donald’s Trump first month in office. Trump may be contributing to this turmoil by appearing overwhelmed by his own political agenda, even as polls show that less than 40% of American voters now support him. Recently he